Process of cleaning surfaces.



GEORGE DURHAM AND CHARLES W. McGUIRK, OF SCBANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF CLEANING SURFACES.

No Drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

' Application filed July 10, 1914. Serial No. 850,107.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, GEORGE DURHAM and CHARLES W. MoGUIRK, citizens of the United States, residing at Scranton, county of Lackawanna, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Cleaning Surfaces, of which the following is a specification.

-Our invention relates to processes of cleaning surfaces especially those of locomotives, engines, and other vehicles by rapidly removing therefrom the accumulation of dust, mud, oily particles and the like with which the frames, running gear and parts of locomotives, engines, and other veicles have become covered in use.

As is well known, the accumulation of foreign matterupon the exterior of locomotives, engines, and other vehicles is frequently so great as to prevent careful inspection of the various parts, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to detect fractures or other imperfections which may cause serious accidents. It is desirable, therefore, that the running gear and other parts of the locomotive, engine, or other vehicle be freuentl cleaned, and it is customary toclean t em y wiping off the foreign matters. This, however, results in an imperfect cleaning, owing to the difficulty in getting at the complicated parts of the running gear and in getting the accumulation of material out of the many recesses therein. To wash off these accumulations with streams of water has proved to be impracticable owing to the containing a mixture of oil and water in the presence of oils and grease with which the accumulations are commonly impregnated.

The object of our invention, therefore, is to provide a process by which the accumulations on the locomotive, engine, or other vehicle may be rapidly removed and the frame and parts be left clean and free from oil and other. foreign matters.

We have discovered that if to a stream of water and oil, preferably a mineral oil, the water in the stream being greatly in excess of the oil, a stream of air at high velocity be admitted. and the combined stream be caused to impinge against the surfaces to becleaned at the high velocity imparted to the stream by the air, a most effective and altogether unusual action takes lace. For example, we have found in practice thatif to a stream proportion of about five hundred gallons of water to two gallons of oil a stream of air at high velocity be admitted at or near the point of ejectment of the stream that the impinging of this stream against the oily surfaces of locomotives, engines, or other vehicles entirely removes the oil and accumulated material from these surfaces, leaving them clean and free from these matters. As a ossible explanation of this phenomenon alt ough we do not wish to be bound by this theory, it is our belief that by thus admitting the air to the mixture of oil and water at high velocity, the oil contained or carried in the water is so finely sub-divided as to take the colloidal condition and owing to the excess of water and to the velocity of the stream the oil remains as a colloidal suspension. As is known, matter in this colloidal condition possesses great energy of molecular attraction and particularly possesses the power when brought into contact with particles of foreign matter of uniting with the particles of foreign matter as a nucleus forming new combinations therewith. The colloids of hydrocarbons possess this molecular attraction to a high degree and also in this state have a, tendency to condense or coagulate. In'order, however, to insure this condensation or coagulation there must be a nucleus of foreign matter or an electrical ion as the center of condensation or coagulation. When, therefore, the stream carrying oil in colloidal suspension is carried against the surface to be cleaned with sufiicient velocity to prevent the colloids from uniting with each other, the colloids unite with the foreign matters upon the surface and form new combinations therewith so that the foreign matters are rapidly removed from the surface.-

In our co-pending application, Serial No. 794,811, we have illustrated one form of apparatus with which our process may be carried out, although it is evident that our process is not dependent upon any particular apparatus.

Although we have described this process as applicable to locomotives, it is obvious that it is equally useful in cleaning cars and car arts, or, in fact, any surfaces upon whic similar accumulations occur.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. The herein described process which con- I sists in causing to impinge at high velocity and in causing the stream to impinge against against a slurface to be cgeaned, a Ttrigam colfithe surface to be cleaned.

taining oi in a state 0 extreme y e su I a division in an excess of water. 2. The herein described process which consists in admitting to a stream containing oil In the presence of in an excess of water at or near the point of v HARRY A. HARPER,

ejectment of the stream air at high velocity, JNo. HEFFREN. 

